Mr. David Powell, President, Creekwood Digital Solutions
David earned a BSc in Computer Science at what is now the University of Hertfordshire in England, and then came 
to Canada in 1970 where he worked for Manufacturer's Life for 18 years in mainframe technical services and management. Lessons learned there were how to analyze a situation, solve a problem even when it seemed impossible, and how to organize, plan and test so that things worked as they were expected to do.
In 1988 David joined the City of Toronto to manage the support arm of their Information Centre (IC), both mainframes and personal computers (PCs). There he learned to work in a municipal, unionized environment, and was more directly involved with business units. He developed a cost-saving agreement with the Purchasing Department that streamlined PC purchases, assessed individual departments’ needs, and created a help desk and a walk-in centre. The IC eventually closed, and David moved to manage the IT needs of the Toronto Fire Department. There he learned about mapping, dispatching, radios, fire trucks, and stretching dollars. He got 200+ Fire Captains trained in word processing and e-mail, and put new computers in all the Fire Halls. After Toronto's amalgamation from six municipalities and Metro Toronto into one, he brought together six IT groups and formed an integrated unit.
From 1999 to 2003, he was the IT Manager for the Canadian Red Cross where he was responsible for 20+ servers, a building network, 300+ PCs across Ontario, building security, phones, fax machines and photocopiers. He developed innovative problem and employee tracking systems that enabled better service at lower cost. He learned that, in IT, “it's not about computers and technology, it's about people” and the importance of incorporating user education, user training, and communications into any plans for change.
Since 2003, he has had his own IT consulting business, Creekwood Digital Solutions, assisting both charitable and commercial enterprises. He volunteers for the non-profit Business Advisory Group, maintaining their website, and was a regular contributor to Microsoft's Canadian Small Business Forum, writing articles for entrepreneurs, especially those who are starting out in small business after leaving the corporate fold.